True Twilight
by PleasantlyWeird
Summary: Sookie finds it impossible to stay in Bon Temps after discovering Bill's betrayal. She makes a clean break and heads out to the west coast, ending up in a small town called, you guessed it, Forks. M for language and possible lemons
1. Chapter 1

Authors note* If you read and you like, please review! Reviews fuel my creative fire and make me want to write more since I am such a whore for approval! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!

_Pissed at the world_. That summed up how Sookie was feeling very nicely. Before last night, betrayal had only been a word in the dictionary for her. Now its definition stung like venom headed straight for her heart. Bill had been sent here to pull her close, he'd been ordered to seduce her by his Queen. She'd meant nothing to him at all, even after giving her virginity and her heart to him.

She snorted as she packed things into boxes in a haphazard way. It was an ugly sound to match her state of mind. She'd never before even considered leaving Bon Temps and now she was headed to the other side of the country. Sookie was determined to make a clean break from all vampires and the only way to do that was to head to where there were few, if any, vampires at all.

The arrangements had been made easily enough. Once she'd received her big check from Eric Northman, she'd gone online and found a small log cabin for rent in Washington State. Someday she'd come back to Louisiana, but not for a good long while.

The sound of her phone ringing startled her, making her jump.

"Hello?"

"Sookie, it's Sam."

"Sam, please, my mind is made up, this is the only way I am gonna be able to extricate myself from all this vampire shit. You know it's true."

"There has to be some other way. I'll stake that fucking Eric Northman and Bill if it will mean you won't leave."

"Don't even think that, let alone say it out loud, Sam. You can't be sure who's listening. I'll call you when I'm settled."

There was a long pause and Sookie could feel how melancholy Sam was, even over the phone.

"I'll miss you Sookie. Things won't ever be the same around here. Maybe it's time for me to move on too."

The phone clicked in her ear before she could reply. She felt a tear slide down her cheek as she placed the receiver into the cradle for what was sure to be the last time for a long time.

"Sook, I got the last boxes loaded. Hey, you alright sis?"

"I'll be okay, Jason. Just sad and a little scared to be leaving the only home I've ever known."

"It's not too late to change your mind…"

"I know, I know."

Jason crossed the room and pulled her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head in an uncharacteristic way.

"I know we ain't always been close but you have to know that I love you and I worry 'bout you."

"I love you too, Jason."

The embrace ended and Sookie put her sunglasses on. Smiling up at Jason with all the bravado she could muster she asked, "Walk me to the U-Haul?"

Jason nodded and put his arm across her shoulders.

"Now remember, you know that Eric is going to contact you to try and figure out where I am. Bill probably will as well. Tell them nothing."

"How can I tell them anything when you won't even tell me where you're headed?"

"Exactly. I love you, brother."

And with that, Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic barmaid, hopped behind the wheel of the moving truck and headed into the rays of the rapidly rising sun.

* * *

><p>She was midway through Kansas when her phone started to ring. She knew that it would be Eric calling since the sun was surely set in Louisiana by then. Ten million dollars wouldn't have been enough to get her to answer the phone. It rang the preset five times and then went to voicemail. Two minutes passed and the phone rang again. This continued for thirty solid minutes until Sookie decided to turn the phone off. She'd told Sam and Jason that she would call when she was stopped for the night, so neither one of them would be calling.<p>

With her butt going numb and her belly protesting the lack of any real sustenance, she decided it was time to pull over for the night. A sign declared that Salina was just a couple miles ahead and that seemed like as good a place as any to stop. She saw the lights of the Super 8 as soon as she took the exit and headed that direction. She wasn't sure what hurt more, her body, her head or her heart. All of them felt heavy as she parked the U-Haul and headed into the lobby.

"Fuck-a-doodle-doo," she muttered to herself. The night clerk just HAD to be a damn vampire. She supposed it was as good a job as any for the undead. A little more respectable than posing as eye candy in a vampire bar, she supposed.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'd like a room for one night."

"Single or double occupancy?" The vampire, whose name tag read Garrett, leered at her as he asked.

"Double. My boyfriend will meet me here in a bit. He got stuck in some traffic a few miles back. A real bad accident on 135 back near Wichita…" she gulped and choked on her words. She was a bad liar to begin with and now she was a rambling idiot to boot.

"That will be $55.00. Sign here and here…" his leer was gone, replaced now by a look of suspicion. Hopefully he would buy her story and not decide to pay her a visit later that night.

Sookie hurried back to the truck and moved it to the spot in front of her room. Grabbing her overnight bag and purse she scrambled to get into her room. What she needed was a nice hot shower and some pizza delivered to the room.

An hour and a half later, she was in her pj's, her belly was full of veggie pizza thanks to the pizzeria next door and she was beyond sleepy. There was one more thing to do before she drifted off to sleep. She turned on her phone and was assaulted multiple times by the voice mail notification chime. Ten messages were waiting to be heard and she knew that every one of them would be from Eric. Ignoring the blinking light she first dialed her brother. She got his answering machine, no big surprise. He was surely out chasing ass and downing beer.

"Jason, it's me. I'm stopped for the night and just wanted you to know I'm safe. Love you."

Before she could dial Sam's number her phone began to ring. The caller ID told her what she already knew, it was Eric. She hit the ignore button, waited until it went to voicemail and then called her former boss. He answered on the first ring.

"Hey Sam, it's just me. Wanted to let you know I'm stopped for the night and I'm okay."

"Let go of my damn phone you fucking leech!"

"Sookie, where are you?"

That high handed Viking vampire had taken Sam's phone.

"Eric, I don't want to talk to you, put Sam back on the phone."

"WHERE ARE YOU?" he bellowed so loudly that she dropped her cell phone onto the floor.

"I'm not about to tell you, Eric. I left so that I wouldn't have to be involved in vampire bullshit anymore. Now put Sam on the goddamn phone!"

"Tell me where you are or I swear there won't be anything left of Sam Merlotte to bury!"

"You won't do it. You won't because you know it would kill me if you hurt him. Plus if you even think about doing anything to Sam, I'll have the Shreveport weres on your ass quicker than you can say Dracula."

"There is nowhere that you can run that I won't find you. You and I have a bond and I can find you through it."

"Well, Eric, if that's true, why are you screaming at me to tell you where I am? I think you're full of shit, I think I don't care what you want and I think you can take this as my final notice that I quit."

"You think that's what this is about? That I merely want you as an employee? I'm not the one who betrayed you, Sookie."

"No, you're not, but you took a lot of joy in telling me about Bill."

"Only because I wanted you to see what a weasel he is and because I want you in my bed."

"Sorry, I don't shift gears that fast. It would never have happened."

"It will happen, lover. This is fate that you and I will be together."

"Put Sam on the fucking phone."

"I'll see you soon, min alskarinna." Sookie heard the phone pass and heard the door of Sam's trailer slam.

"Sookie, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Sam; he'll never find me in Maine. He'll give up soon enough. I'll call you again soon."

She heard Sam softly say goodnight as she hit the end button on her cell phone. With any luck, Eric would take the bait and head to the wrong coast looking for her. Sookie wasn't fool enough to think that he would give up so easily. She was an asset to him and he was a relentless businessman.

It took Sookie five days to finally make it to the small town that was her new hometown. Anyone who knew Sookie would wonder why she chose such a place. She had always been a strong devotee of sunbathing and this place had the most rain and cloud cover of any US city. The answer was simple, she wanted a clean break, she wanted to become a different person, and she wanted everything, including the weather to be different that it had been in Bon Temps.

Tom-Tom had been a lifesaver and was once again her best friend as it led her from one pig path to the next; she never would have in a million years found her rental without the GPS. The sky was overcast and heavy with moisture as she pulled up to what was going to be her new home for the unforeseeable future. Sookie looked through the gloom to see the black Mercedes parked along the driveway. She pulled into the parking spot slowly, being extra careful not to make contact with her new landlords vehicle. By the time Sookie made it out of the cab of the truck, the woman had made her way around the U-Haul to greet her.

"Hello, you must be Sookie. I'm Karen Newton. Welcome to Forks, Miss Stackhouse!"

Immediately Sookie began sizing her up, physically and telepathically. Karen Newton was high polish, high gloss and high maintenance. She was a hard worker and honest with the exception that she was cheating on her husband with a high school biology teacher. Sookie shook herself and reached out to shake Karen's extended hand.

"Yep, that's me. It's nice to finally be out of that truck!"

_ Might as well go ahead and start the small talk, this is to be expected since I'll be the local curiosity for a while._

"I can imagine." _Good lord I hope this one isn't as crazy as she seems. Although she did pay a year's rent in advance. _

"You have keys for me? I'm eager to get started." _I'm here five minutes and already someone thinks I'm crazy Sookie. I guess some things will never change._

"Why yes, of course." The sound of another vehicle laboring up the gravel driveway caused both women to turn and look through the tree's. "That would be my son Mike and a few of his friends. They've volunteered to come and help you unload the U-Haul."

Karen's smile was earnest but Sookie knew that her son and some of his friends had come to ogle the newcomer. Whatever the reason, she was glad for the help. A blue Suburban pulled up behind the moving truck and a gaggle of teenage boys piled out.

"Miss Stackhouse, this is my son Mike," the tallest of the boys held out his hand in greeting and Sookie shook it.

"Pleased to meet you, Mike."

Mike lowered his watery blue eyes to the soggy ground and nodded shyly. He didn't really want to be here. This was his night to spy on some girl named Bella and her asshole boyfriend Edward. That was so much more that Sookie ever wanted to know. Karen Newton continued on with the introductions.

"These young men are Tyler, Eric, Ben, Damon and Will."

"Nice to meet all of you," Sookie said as she nodded at each of them in turn.

The rush of six hormonal teenage minds almost made her swoon. Five days with very little contact with anyone other than fast food employees had left Sookie feeling defenseless. She worked furiously to build up her mental wall as each boy assessed her and decided that they would indeed like to fuck her brains out.

"Alright boys, I expect you guys to show Miss Stackhouse proper respect. Mike, come in to work as soon as you're done. We have that new shipment of hiking boots coming in and they'll all need to be priced."

Mike didn't groan out loud but he was whining like crazy in his mind.

"Alrighty then, let's get started shall we?"

All in all it took the seven of them around three hours to unload everything off the truck and then arrange the furniture to Sookie's liking. She offered to pay the boys as they were heading out but each one refused politely. As Ben was heading out the door he smiled shyly up at Sookie.

"Miss Stackhouse, I happen to know that they need help down at the Carver Café. They just had a waitress quit and no one has applied yet. I wash dishes there on the weekends."

"Well that's sweet of you to tell me that, Ben. I'll keep it in mind, thanks."

Mike honked his obnoxious SUV horn and Ben hurried down the driveway. She caught one last thought from the retreating vehicle as it backed away.

_Wonder what she'll think of the Cullens?_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

There was very little light outside of the window even though Sookie's alarm clock said it was eight in the morning. Insisting that it was time to get up, the clocks alarm bleated like an electronic sheep. Even a pillow over her ear couldn't drown it out. It was the growling in her stomach that finally convinced her to roll out of bed and get dressed. There wasn't a bite of anything to eat here in the cabin so a trip into town was unavoidable. After she was decent, she pulled the local phone book out of the cabinet. There was only one grocery in town, Thriftway. She hoped it was as inexpensive as its name sounded. Sookie wasn't hurting for cash my any means but her inner poor person demanded she be careful while she was unemployed. Who knew what the economy was like here in Forks.

After jotting down the address for her GPS and gulping down a glass of water to quell the noises coming from her stomach, she went outside to take her Malibu off of the tow dolly. At least the cross country trip hadn't added any miles to her car. She was determined to make this one last. Maybe she would have better luck out here than she'd had in Louisiana.

The trip into town didn't take as long as she had thought it would. She spotted the diner Ben had told her about and decided to stop in for some breakfast. It was never a good idea to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

The atmosphere inside the diner was cozy. The place was slightly smaller than Merlottes and smelled like hot apple pie and coffee. Everyone turned around to get a good look at her as she walked inside. Sookie quickly took a seat in a corner booth and buried her head in a menu to escape the scrutiny. She looked up as she heard footsteps and brain waves approach. A waitress whose nametag read Maggie was smiling at her.

"You must be the Newton's new renter."

"Yep, that's me."

"Well honey, welcome to Forks. I'm gonna let you know that you might wanna switch tables. This here is the one that Chief Swan always sits at and he's due anytime now."

"Actually he's standing right behind you, Mags," said a deep rich voice. Sookie glanced around the server to see Chief Swan, she presumed because that's what his nametag underneath his shiny badge said. "And the lady is welcome to sit there, my name ain't anywhere on that booth s'far as I can tell."

Sookie immediately liked this man. He had no perverted thoughts running through his mind; he was worried about his daughter and about some hikers that had disappeared locally. He also had a strong dislike for the boy his daughter was dating. He was sure they were sexually intimate and planning on running off to get married. She put up the wall before she could delve any deeper into his mind.

"I promise not to move if you'll join me, Chief," Sookie said, mustering up her best and brightest smile. He returned it with one so wide that his eyes crinkled on the sides. It was the most honest smile that Sookie had seen since she'd last laid eyes on Sam.

"Why, thank you Miss…"

"Stackhouse, Sookie Stackhouse." She extended her hand and was pleased with the firm handshake she received.

"Call me Charlie," the Chief said as he slid in to the opposite side of the booth. "Welcome to Forks. I remember the Newton's mentioning they had a new tenant but I couldn't remember when you were due to show up. So tell me, what brings you up this way."

Sookie had known she was going to have to answer questions eventually but she wasn't prepared for it at all.

"Just needed a change of scenery I guess," she muttered quietly. She knew that all within earshot inside the diner were listening for her answer. She wasn't going to make their eavesdropping easy.

"I think we all feel that way sometimes. God knows it hits me every now and then. If my daughter hadn't moved up here from Arizona who knows if I'd still be here."

He was doing some wishful thinking. Sookie could read him like a book, he was a lifer here and that wasn't about to change, daughter or no daughter. And now Charlie was saying something else to her and she hadn't been focusing.

"What'll you have this morning?" Sookie hadn't even noticed that the waitress was back and wearing an annoyed look on her face.

"Two scrambled eggs and dry wheat toast please."

"I'll have the usual," Charlie said as he handed Maggie the menu Sookie had been hiding behind.

The rest of breakfast was uneventful. She'd been able to nod when appropriate, answer questions in a timely manner and had been gracious as she thanked Charlie for sharing his booth with her.

"No problem Miss Stackhouse. I'm sure we'll bump into each other around town."

"Please call me Sookie."

She'd left a generous tip for Maggie since Chief Swan had insisted on paying for her breakfast. She would have refused if he'd had any nefarious thoughts about her; his mind was strictly on the up and up. Charlie was up front, honest and extremely lonely. She'd gathered from his mind that there had been no one since his wife had left seventeen years before.

The Thriftway was only a couple of blocks further into town. Sookie did her best to ignore all the stares and rude thoughts as she hurried through the parking lot. The first person she saw inside the store was Eric, the most talkative of the bunch who had helped her unload yesterday.

"Hello again Miss Stackhouse." _Hello again big, beautiful tits. None of these flat chested high school chicks has shit on this pair._

"Hi Eric. Nice to see you again." _Why in the hell does your name have to be Eric?_

"Need some help finding your way around the store?" _Cause I need some more time to eyeball your luscious tata's._

"I'm sure I can manage, but thanks anyway, Eric."_ Now piss off you little pervert._

Sookie watched the smile fade from Eric's face, but he wasn't looking at her chest anymore, he was looking past her at the front door. Before she even turned to see what he was looking at, she got an odd sensation, almost like fingers probing into her brain, poking around for information.

"_Who's there?" _she asked mentally without even thinking first.

_"How did she?..." _and then the connection was gone. Sookie spun on her heels and gasped when she saw a vampire, an honest to god vampire out in broad daylight. His skin had that otherworldly luminescence that she'd seen in Bill, Eric and every other vamp she'd ever met. How could he possibly be walking around during the day? This vampire had his arm slung around the shoulders of a very petite brunette who was almost as pale as he was. This had to be Chief Swan's daughter; she looked too much like him for it to be otherwise. Sookie lowered her mental wall and delved into the girls mind. This girl was sick with worry about keeping a secret from Charlie. She loved the vampire with all her heart but didn't truly believe that he could love her. She thought herself to be plain and undeserving of his love and attentions. She was also worried about someone named Jacob. Jacob was a werewolf.

Sookie felt the invisible fingers prodding at her mind again and she zeroed in on the vampire. It was him that was delving where he shouldn't be, but then again there was a lot going on in this moment that shouldn't be happening. Vampires can't come out in the daylight, everyone knows that. And yet here was one doing that very thing.

_"I can feel you, vampire. Get out of my head."_

The withdrawal was immediate and the vampire never missed a step as he strolled past with his human.

_Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea. I just can't win._


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note* Thanks for all who have read and especially to those who have reviewed. Please recommend this story if you think it's worth the read. I will try to commit to one chapter (at least) per day but if it fluctuates, please stick with me. I am heading into a summer semester that's got 14 credit hours' worth of material!

Chapter Three

Two hundred dollars later, Sookie had supplied her new home with groceries, cleaning supplies and a couple paperback books. Direct TV wouldn't be hooked up for another week so she needed something to occupy her time. An idle mind was dangerous, she needed to keep hers occupied so she didn't have time to think about a certain Viking vampire.

Last night had been a struggle. She hadn't turned her phone off the day before but had left it on vibrate instead. The buzzing sound had continued for hours, ceasing only when the sun was bound to be on the horizon back in Louisiana. There were multiple messages in her voicemail now, messages that she was nowhere near ready to listen to. Her sleep, brief as it was, had been filled with erotic dreams/nightmares starring the Viking. She'd woken up drenched in sweat, turned on to the nth degree and fighting herself and the urge to call Eric.

Sookie couldn't be sure exactly what she felt for Eric Northman. He used to be a very large thorn in her side, one that she likened to a bloodsucking cancer. Sure, he was gorgeous and surly, and sexy and… no she couldn't afford to think of him like that. She would admit that he was amazing to look at and leave it at that. She kept recalling unnecessary details Pam had given her about the kind of lover Eric was. She'd chided Pam for oversharing at the time but those details had assured Eric a starring role in many of her fantasies.

She only had Bill on her list of lovers, she'd come close once with Eric but thankfully Bubba had interrupted. She'd like to believe that she would have stopped it before things went too far but in her heart she knew that wasn't true. The lust he had awakened in here with a few touches had been animalistic, nothing like she'd ever felt with Bill.

Her thoughts had been occupied with nothing but vampires, damn vampires as she'd unloaded her purchases and put them in their proper places. She was almost unaware as the bizarre brain pattern moved cautiously closer to her house. The fact that it was different was what finally brought her into the present. Whoever it was had made their way into her house and was stealthily approaching.

"I know you're here so you can stop with the sneaking and come on in. I'm in the kitchen, "she called out and projected mentally simultaneously.

"How could you possibly know?" asked a butter smooth voice. She knew without turning that it belonged to the vampire from town.

_I'm a telepath just like you, well maybe not just like you. I mean I'm not a vampire._

_Amazing. I've never had a two way conversation inside my mind before…_

"If you please, I'd rather talk out loud. It makes my brain feel buzzy to communicate with you like that."

"Whatever you'd like, of course. May I ask how you know… what I am?" She'd finally turned to face the boy and he was staring at her intently. She was immediately lost in the amber color of his eyes. He was stunningly beautiful in a way that made her feel like a dirty old cougar. He cleared his throat politely to remind her that a response was only polite.

"Well, it's because of the glow. And your brain pattern is different than a human's would be. Without the glow I would have assumed you were fae. But I'm puzzled because you were out and about in the daytime. How is that possible?"

He laughed and it sounded a little condescending. "That's just a myth."

"I beg your pardon but no, it's not. Well at least not for the vampires I know from back home. They can't stay awake when the sun is up and they fry like a pork chop in a skillet if the sun shines on them." She folded her arms indignantly and stared smugly, waiting for a response.

"Well I obviously wasn't burning."

"Obviously…"

"And you say I glow?"

"Yes. It's not something that ordinary people can seem to pick up on, but it seems that may be the only thing you have in common with the vamps I know. Can I see your fangs?"

His laugh was definitely insulting this time and he followed it with a scoffing sound. "Fangs? I don't have fangs." _I think you've seen too many Dracula movies._

"My ex-boyfriend Bill most certainly had fangs, so did the Sheriff of area 5, Eric Northman."

"I've never heard of such a thing."

"He took blood from me every time we were…" Sookie couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"He drank your blood?" The vampire looked terrified at the thought.

"Well what the hell do you drink? Are you mainstreaming?" His puzzled look told her that he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Do you drink the synthetic blood?"

His thoughts made it clear that he fully believed she was mentally unbalanced. He even looked slightly frightened of her.

"Look, you can still see the small scars from where he fed the last time." Sookie pulled her hair to the side and the vampire approached her cautiously. His sharp exhale was cold on her neck and she felt her body respond. She was the one backing away now.

"I don't understand how he fed on you and yet you are not a vampire." His words were more like a thought aloud instead of a statement to Sookie.

"I would never let him turn me. I love being human, I can't imagine ever being a vampire. I love the sun too much."

"So you're saying that your lover was not venomous? He could drink from you and not turn you?"

"Good lord, I'd have to be drained completely, buried for three days with him and then fed his blood in order for that to happen."

"Amazing, I never knew that we were not the only variety of vampire."

"So how come you feel so comfortable about talking to me about this? You planning on erasing my memory after you're done here? Cause I'll tell you now, glamor doesn't work on me at all."

"Again, I have no idea what you're talking about. But I'm going to assume that your vampires have the ability to hypnotize humans?"

"Yeah pretty much, except I seem to be an exception to this. I'm an exception to a lot of vampire rules and that's why they chase me."

"Chase you?"

"I ran away from my hometown to get away from vampires and run smack dab into a nest of a different kind. Are you going to kill me?"

"Kill you? No, it would be against everything my entire family believes in. We don't drink human blood, we exist on the blood of animals."

"You're fucking kidding me."

And it was like that for the rest of a very long evening. Sookie told Edward all there was to know about her vampires and he told her the incredible story of his family and how they came to be what he laughingly called vegetarians. One thing puzzled them both, how had his kind been left in the dark about the Great Revelation and about the advent of synthetic blood? Something wasn't adding up.

"Would you be greatly opposed to meeting the rest of my family? There is much that we need to discuss, maybe we can figure out the lack of information we seem to be suffering here in the Northwest."

"I'd feel better about it if ya'll would meet me here. That way if things got hinky I could revoke the invitation. Just a small matter of self-preservation, I doubt you can begrudge me that."

Edward smiled at Sookie slyly. "It would be wrong of me to let you believe that works on my kind. The differences are astounding and numerous. You have nothing to fear from us, Sookie. We have a permanent home here, the love of my existence lives here along with her father. I won't risk what I have here."

"Yeah, I've met the Chief, nice guy. And that daughter of his is beautiful, but incredibly conflicted…"

"Wait," he interrupted," you can read Bella's mind?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Eric's POV**

I am a man of few words and I always think before I speak. I know rage but rarely does that rage unbalance me. This is one of those rare times that I have allowed emotion to rule my better judgment.

What is one human woman to me when I could have anyone else I wanted? I need not even snap my fingers but simply look at a woman and she would heed my silent call. But Sookie is not just any woman. The fact that she will not yield to me makes her irresistible, it's been too long since anyone refused me and now I feel like I might go mad with wanting her.

She's run off and she thinks that I cannot find her. She couldn't be more wrong. All it took was the shifters slip of the tongue telling me that she had rented a U-Haul. I hadn't even had to glamor the woman who handled the rental paperwork, she'd made it clear that she found me desirable and would do what I wanted. I don't feel bad at all about leading her on and in another time I might have taken her there on the counter. But I don't desire anyone except my fleeing telepath.

It wasn't a problem tracking her down, the trouble lies with where she has chosen to go and I have to wonder if it could possibly be mere coincidence that led her there of all places. It is forbidden territory for my kind, ruled over by a ruthless clan of vampires known as the Volturi.

"Master, I don't understand why I cannot go with you," Pam whined from the door of my office. She could be so childlike in the worst way.

"Because our kind's not welcome in Washington State; the whole state is off limits to us. It's a different breed of vampire that rules it and they don't like us. My presence there can ruin the illusion that they have worked hard to maintain for hundreds of years."

"I don't understand, how can they not know about the Great Revelation? It was televised worldwide! Even people without televisions know now! Why do they hate our kind? How are we different than they are?" she drones on and on and I fight hard not to snap at her, demand that she leave my office.

I sigh and close my eyes. Pam isn't going to let this go and if I am to have any hope of leaving Shreveport without her and soon I know that I must tell her the whole story. A story that very few people outside of the Volturi themselves know.

"Washington State, as you know, is not under the rule of a single monarch like all of the other states. It is ruled by a family of very strong and ancient vampires; vampires who also happen to be witches. The vampires know of us but don't consider themselves anything like us."

I see a brief flicker of surprise cross my child's face but she composes herself and raises an eyebrow to let me know I should continue.

"This ruling family, known as the Volturi, are practitioners of the darkest magic you can imagine, they are ancient. Their magic was hard won; many humans and supernatural beings lost their lives during the quest to obtain the knowledge to gain what they were after. The Volturi set out to and eventually attained the ability to walk in the day. Through much ritual and the imprisonment and death of many fae, they found a magic strong enough to allow them to step into the sun and not meet the true death. But it was a steep price they paid for this; for a clan as old as they, they didn't take into account the deviousness of Fairies. In exchange for their day walking, they lost much. They cannot bite a human to feed without killing them or turning them; instead of their saliva healing wounds it has turned into deadly venom. They don't have the ability to glamor their prey as we do and they can never sleep. Their skin gives them away when sunlight shines on it; it sparkles like a gemstone and humans would know immediately that they are different. Any progeny they make is afflicted with the same, and as far as I know it's irreversible."

"So they don't want to be a part of the great revelation because they cannot feed on a human without it resulting in death or transition? What about the synthetic shit?"

"It will not sustain them, not that the Volturi themselves even entertained the idea for more than a few minutes. They do not harbor any remnants of human emotion, even more so than you or I. They see people as cattle and nothing more. Their sustenance has to come from a beating heart or it cannot nourish them. Their appetites are legendarily insatiable."

"So how did they keep news of the revelation out of Washington? No one there knows?"

"Through the same deep magic that helped them become day walkers, they keep the population unaware, almost like a stasis of sorts. When a human travels out of the state, they may well become aware of us but upon returning to Washington, they come under the spell again. Any news of us that makes it into Washington is invisible to the humans there; the whole state is under tight control and the deep magic makes the humans blind to what is going on in the rest of the world. Their kind chooses to remain in the area because there is little sunshine and they can live amongst humans virtually invisible. The population of this breed of vampire is relatively small here in the United States; they travel in packs and live in clans. The Volturi rule from Italy of all places and how they came to gain control of Washington, I do not know. I do know that vampires like you and I who dare to intrude into their bubble are instantly put to death by watchers who work for the ruling family."

"So tell me how do you plan to make this work, could the magic take away your memory? What will become of you if you get caught?" Pam looks extremely worried and I wish I could quell her fear.

"We both know of someone who could help me out with this, you know her a little more intimately than I do."

"Amelia? You do know she once turned a lover into a cat and was never able to return him to his former self on her own."

"Pam, fear is a great motivator and I'm sure that things can be inferred and threatened that will assure her success. I care nothing for the witch and if she cannot serve a purpose then I cannot suffer her to live."

"As you wish, I will contact her immediately."

As she leaves the room I call Bobby Burnham, my day man, and instruct him to make all the necessary arrangements. I am leaving for Forks, Washington in 24 hours. I am not coming back without Sookie.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Edwards POV

My head was still spinning from the things Sookie has told me. How could my family have been kept in the dark about the Great Revelation, about other breeds of vampires? The differences were astounding and I couldn't wait to get back to Carlisle and the others ; couldn't wait to tell them the news about what I had discovered. If others similar to us could come out and live peaceable amongst humans, surely we could do the same!

The feel of air in my face, the smell of wet pine needles crushed beneath my feet gave me a sense of peace. I hadn't felt this optimistic since I'd cleaned Bella's blood of James' deadly venom and had been able to control the hunger. I wondered if the hunger of the other vampires was as keen and overpowering as ours. I realized with a jolt as I ran that Sookie had had no smell to me, I could hear her heartbeat but I wasn't tempted by the aroma of her blood, she had been completely odorless to me. It hadn't occurred to me at the time but now it was beyond weird to realize that I hadn't smelled her at all.

I hadn't made it more than halfway home I was met by Jasper. It startled me but I greeted him as I would any other time.

"Is everything okay?"

"We've been worried, Alice hasn't been able to see you for hours now and Bella has been beside herself with worry. I must say that your mood is puzzling me right now." Jasper had lifted one eyebrow as he looked me over, I couldn't fathom what he meant by my mood. I was supremely angry with myself that I had forgotten that Bella was coming over.

"I lost track of time, running through the woods. I just needed to relax." I knew Jasper wasn't buying it but it was all I could think of. What luck, good or possibly bad that Alice couldn't see where I had been. I was questioning whether I should bring Sookie to everyone's attention. I wasn't sure how I could explain the holes in Alice's visions for the past several hours. I'd decided quickly that for now it would be better to only address the issue with Carlisle. It should be his decision as to whether everyone else needed to know.

If I'd paid more attention to Jasper, listened in a little more carefully I would have been able to read him and prevented a world of trouble.

**Jasper's POV**

The smell coming off of Edward was incredible, like nothing I had ever experienced before, but more than that, the patterns of emotions that clung to him left me dazed. They were not his own but belonged to someone, something that I had never met before. Where had he been? Who or what had he been with? I had to know, I couldn't resist the pull of this wild sensation, it made me feel like what I remember intoxication felt like. I had only been drunk twice in my human life but I remember the sensation of being out of control and under the influence of something reckless.

He was withholding something and I could feel the deceit in his words and his aura. Did he have someone other than Bella? Surely my brother, the most prudish and virginal vampire on the face of the planet, wasn't two timing his "true love"! As I watched him streak towards home I decided that I needed to find out where he had been. The smell of the "other" was strong enough that I could back track it to the source. It would be slow going if I wanted to keep the scent trail steady but I could always tell the others that I'd decided to hunt.

Many thoughts ran through my mind as I followed the scent but soon they were consumed with hunger as the smell got stronger. Venom flowed freely and I found myself drooling like a lobotomized imbecile. I could see the distant lights of a cabin and I knew that whatever I was tracking, and whoever was the cause of the most intense hunger I had ever felt, was inside of there.

My mind screamed at me not to go any closer but my hunger shut that thought away quickly. I could taste the scent of it in the air; I felt it pulsate through my mouth, throughout my body and even down to my groin. A different kind of hunger was starting to awaken and I couldn't maintain my surprise at that revelation. For so long now only Alice had been able to awaken that particular feeling. This was close to it but beyond that it was animalistic, almost angry and definitely predatory. It only increased in intensity as I closed in on the rustic home. I climbed up a tall pine and peered anxiously into the sliding glass doors, getting a good view of the living room and the petite blond who was engrossed in applying pink nail polish to her toes.

She had headphones in and was nodding her head in time to the music. I had to get a closer look so I slithered down the tree and combat crawled closer to the deck that was right outside the living room. The smell of her intensified and I was struck with a horrifying thought. She is my ringer.

Everything seemed to be coated in red and all I could think of was breaking through the window, grabbing this woman and tearing her throat out. My crotch pulsated as I thought of other things I wanted to do to her as well. I crouched, my muscles tensed to spring and as I was about to launch myself into what would end in murder, she looked directly at me. She held up her hand a bright pulsating light shot towards me and all I remember next is running, screaming towards home. My skin was on fire and I was insane with pain and agony.


End file.
